Stakeholders must ensure natural gas to Kolkata: NGT

The National Green Tribunal (NGT)on Friday brought together all stakeholders of natural gas authorities to facilitate the supply of clean fuel to Kolkata. NGT has asked the stakeholders to meet and devise a roadmap so that clean fuel is available in the city at the earliest.TNN | September 02, 2017, 08:25 IST

Kolkata: The National Green Tribunal (NGT)on Friday brought together all stakeholders of natural gas authorities to facilitate the supply of clean fuel to Kolkata. NGT has asked the stakeholders to meet and devise a roadmap so that clean fuel is available in the city at the earliest.

After Friday’s order, experts are hopeful that coal-bed methane (CBM), one of the cleanest fuels available in Durgapur-Asansol coal belt, will be available for the automobile sector in the city within 6 months. NGT Eastern Bench judicial member S P Wangdi observed that Kolkata desperately needs clean fuel as it is difficult to breathe after October 15 when the ambient air degrades fast.

The NGT bench asked the joint secretary ministry of petroleum and natural gas, Asish Chatterjee, to convene a meeting of all stake-holders. The stakeholders will submit an action-taken-report (ATR) to NGT on October 25.

Petitioner and environment activist Subhas Dutta said that eastern cities are deprived of clean fuel. The western cities in Maharastra, Gujarat and Rajasthan are availing 65% of the country’s natural gas extraction after laying of 15,000 km pipeline. But there has been no progress in connection with the pipleline from Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia.

“To save the environment and to fight climate change, my government has planned a major campaign. By 2022, we want to generate 175 GW of renewable energy. In the last three years, we have already achieved 60 GW or around one-third of this target,” he said.